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be [ stressed bee, unstressed bi ] (1st person singular past indicative was [ stressed woz, wuz, unstressed wəz ], 2nd person singular past indicative were [ stressed wur, unstressed wər ], 3rd person singular past indicative was, 1st person plural past indicative were, 2nd person plural past indicative were, 3rd person plural past indicative were, past subjunctive were, past participle been [ bin ], present subjunctive be, present participle be·ing, 1st person present singular am [ stressed am, unstressed əm ], 2nd person present singular are [ stressed aar, unstressed ər ], 3rd person present singular is [ iz ], 1st person present plural are, 2nd person present plural are, 3rd person present plural are) CORE MEANING: a verb used most commonly to link the subject of a clause to a complement in order to give more information about the subject, e.g. its identity, nature, attributes, position, or value
  This is my coworker.
He's a very sweet person.
Her new car is blue.
The supermarket is on the left.
The clock was worth $3,000. |
| Definition: |
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1. intransitive verb giving description: used after "it" as the subject of the clause, to give a description or judgment of something
It is a good thing that we left early.
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2. intransitive verb exist or be true: used after "there" to indicate that something exists or is true
There are many problems with her research.
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3. intransitive verb exist: to exist, have presence, or live
I think, therefore I am.
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4. intransitive verb happen: to happen or take place
The meeting was at four o'clock.
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5. intransitive verb stay: to stay or visit
I was in Italy during the summer.
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6. intransitive verb have particular quality: to have a particular quality or attribute
This sentence is concise.
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7. intransitive verb remain: used to indicate that a particular situation remains
The facts are these: it is cold and unhealthy here.
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8. aux v expressing continuation: used as an auxiliary verb with the present participles of other verbs to express continuation
My legs are getting tired.
I am leaving on the next train.
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9. aux v forming passive: used as an auxiliary verb with the past participles of transitive verbs to form the passive voice
She was sent on the mission.
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10. aux v expressing future: used as an auxiliary verb to indicate that something is planned, expected, intended, or supposed to happen in the future
(
used with an infinitive
)
The meeting is to take place tomorrow.
What am I to do?
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11. aux v expressing unplanned action in past: used as an auxiliary verb when reporting past events to indicate that something happened later than the time reported and was unplanned or uncertain at the time
(
used with an infinitive
)
It was to be the last time he ever saw her.
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12. aux v forming perfect tense: used as an auxiliary verb with the past participles of some intransitive verbs to form a perfect tense
(
archaic
)
She is come back.
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13. intransitive verb introducing sentence: used to introduce a full, often quoted sentence
(
informal
)
They were, 'The tickets are way too expensive.'
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| [ Old English bēon, via Germanic, "exist, dwell" < Indo-European, "exist, grow"] |
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been there, done that (bought the T-shirt) used to indicate a blasé attitude to a situation (slang)
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be off to leave somewhere
It's already seven o'clock; I'm off.
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